I am a Christian. I also do not understand how Christians can choose to marry a person not of their faith. I certainly wouldn’t. I will try to explain why I hold this view.
My greatest fear is marrying someone who then apostacizes. I don’t want my heart to break that way, to love someone so personally and deeply and know they will cease to be.* I hope I do not choose a man who will become an apostate. I hope not to make a hasty choice, but I have a limited pool as a gay Christian, and it is stressful.
It isn’t that I would have any qualm with a difference in tradition or culture that would come with a partner from a different faith, but that I’d love them knowing they would die. That is a great and terrible grief, and is the same grief I believe God felt for every person (God is Love Itself—how can he be without grief at our suffering? No one has so much sorrow as the God who witnesses the death of his beloved children by the billions. God is Love who mourns.); the grief that compelled him to send Christ.
I see God like the sun (He is called Heaven’s Sun and Morning Star in Scripture); we must be with Him to live, but we are imperfect vessels, and His light will ablate our souls. Only through Christ’s sacrifice are we made holy to stand in such light without dying. And in such a way, I believe those who refuse salvation** burn in that light and cease to be.
Nonbelievers are beautiful, but they burn for only a short time. Would that they were everlasting…
*There are multiple beliefs about Hell/Hades/Sheol/Gehenna. Mine is annihilationism, which I have briefly surmised here. A good pastor I appreciate who shares this view is the progressive pastor Paul Drees. You may find he runs counter to the Christofascism that is so much of “evangelical” American church culture today. James Talarico also has good sermons in this more Christ-like vein of Christianity, although I do not think he is an annihilationist.
**This concept of refusal of salvation is core to Arminian Christianity.
It is okay if you disagree with me; I am just sharing how I view God. I hope this post helps some people understand my view.
I am a Christian. I also do not understand how Christians can choose to marry a person not of their faith. I certainly wouldn’t. I will try to explain why I hold this view.
My greatest fear is marrying someone who then apostacizes. I don’t want my heart to break that way, to love someone so personally and deeply and know they will cease to be.* I hope I do not choose a man who will become an apostate. I hope not to make a hasty choice, but I have a limited pool as a gay Christian, and it is stressful.
It isn’t that I would have any qualm with a difference in tradition or culture that would come with a partner from a different faith, but that I’d love them knowing they would die. That is a great and terrible grief, and is the same grief I believe God felt for every person (God is Love Itself—how can he be without grief at our suffering? No one has so much sorrow as the God who witnesses the death of his beloved children by the billions. God is Love who mourns.); the grief that compelled him to send Christ.
I see God like the sun (He is called Heaven’s Sun and Morning Star in Scripture); we must be with Him to live, but we are imperfect vessels, and His light will ablate our souls. Only through Christ’s sacrifice are we made holy to stand in such light without dying. And in such a way, I believe those who refuse salvation** burn in that light and cease to be.
Nonbelievers are beautiful, but they burn for only a short time. Would that they were everlasting…
*There are multiple beliefs about Hell/Hades/Sheol/Gehenna. Mine is annihilationism, which I have briefly surmised here. A good pastor I appreciate who shares this view is the progressive pastor Paul Drees. You may find he runs counter to the Christofascism that is so much of “evangelical” American church culture today. James Talarico also has good sermons in this more Christ-like vein of Christianity, although I do not think he is an annihilationist.
**This concept of refusal of salvation is core to Arminian Christianity.
It is okay if you disagree with me; I am just sharing how I view God. I hope this post helps some people understand my view.